to the man with the cross-word puzzles

regarding an experience on the bus

thank you for your other-worldliness,

i thought to the man beside me on the bus.

you have an aura of pipe and armchair

the kind of look not quite achieved

by nylon shorts and plastic gadgets.

the battered book of ephemera

that you’ve stuffed with jaundiced

newspaper cuttings of crossword

puzzles. how it felt to sit side-by-side

in silent camaraderie, in linguistic awe,

soulful solace, the weight of multicultural

poetry more fitting in my hands beside you.

we take what was missing from our schooling

add it to our education, not quite too late.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so much poetry can be found on a bus.
this is such a visual piece, you get us there...
and what i took away, at least one thing is that what we learned in school outside of the classroom really contributed to our inspiration for writing...not the book stuff, but the real life stuff.
live, learn, write.
excellent poem.
j.

[Caroline]

A friend of mine often complains about her daughter not having finished a degree, that she only got life experiences and found herself through it. I try to remind that those experiences and wisdom are often much more important than accolades and much of the temporary knowledge we get in school.

Thank you for the comments and connection.

[BlackPrince]

I like how you've taken your regular daily commuting and made a substantial poem out of it.

Well done!!!

[Caroline]

Thank you for your comment! I appreciate it very much.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Another powerful piece of descriptive free verse. Your acute observation and contemplation of this fellow passenger has indeed provided poetic sustenance.

[Caroline]

Thank you!

[LE Berry]

A poem of the meeting place of the love of words caught in a thoughtful moment of joining. Very nice.

[Caroline]

Thank you for your thoughtful review!

[LE Berry]

You are very welcome. It's a wonderful piece of writing Caroline.